Dateline: The Smoking Gun is re-investigating the infamous Kaufman County murders when a former lawyer and justice of the peace, Eric Williams, gunned down three people.
Williams shot dead Kaufman County prosecutor Mark Hasse in broad daylight as he walked from his car to the courthouse in downtown Kaufman, Texas.
And two months later, the twisted killer gunned down District Attorney Michael McLelland and his wife, Cynthia McLelland, at their home in Formey, TX.
Hasse and Michael McLelland had been instrumental in securing a conviction for theft and burglary against Williams, which led to him losing his job and his law license. The conviction reportedly pushed Williams over the edge, sending him into a rage.
The cops later learned that Williams had amassed more than 30 guns, police tactical gear, and a getaway car, which he kept in a storage unit.
On January 31, 2013, Williams wore a black Halloween mask, a black jacket, and a bulletproof vest when he shot 57-year-old Hasse. Williams and Hasse began shoving each other in the street before Williams shot him repeatedly. Hasse reportedly pleaded with his killer and told him, “I’m sorry,” before he died.
Eric Williams and his wife Kim Williams killed Michael and Cynthia McLelland
On March 30, 2013, Williams broke into the McLelland’s rural home and killed 63-year-old Michael and 65-year-old Cynthia by shooting them over a dozen times each.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelWilliams and his wife, Kim Williams, were both arrested in the following weeks after the cops uncovered their revenge plot.
Kim admitted to driving the getaway car for the Hasse murder, and she confessed to helping her husband dispose of the weapons after the McLelland killings. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years.
Eric Williams sentenced to death for capital murder
Williams was put on trial and found guilty of capital murder. In December 2014, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Judge Mike Snipes told the killer, “At the end of the day, you murdered a little old lady, and you would have murdered two other innocent people if you had the opportunity. That put you right there with Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer.”
Christine Foreman, Cynthia McClelland’s daughter, told him, “Pretty much the only thing I have to say is f**k you, Eric Williams.”
Williams’s defense team requested a new trial in 2015 and 2019 and again in this year 2024. They claim that the defense didn’t have enough time to prepare for the trial and that the proceedings should have been moved to a neighboring county. They also recently claimed their client had suffered from brain damage.
Dateline: The Smoking Gun airs Thursdays at 8/7c on Oxygen.